WHERE TO STAY IN SAINT PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

Where is the best place to stay in Saint Petersburg?

Saint Petersburg has a unique harmony that blends both Russian historical traditions and charming European style and atmosphere. It is widely known as being its own city and not following others, which gives it a distinct and special feel to the place as nothing much can be compared with it. The city is coined one of the most beautiful places on the planet, which is home to a large historic centre that is full of baroque bridges, superb architecture and huge museums that contain some of the world’s most prized collections of art and treasure.

The best area to stay in St Petersburg is the city centre, which has the largest concentration of tourist attractions that include palaces, museums and religious buildings. This area is also the best for shopping, leisure activities and nightlife as it is home to a brilliant collection of bars and clubs, which are some of the biggest in the world. The city centre is also home to a variety of restaurants that produce dishes from all over the globe from traditional Russian foods to Middle Eastern, American and European meals. The hotels that are found here are the most popular and that’s due to your proximity as well as cleanliness and customer service.

City centre, the best place to stay in St Petersburg

St Petersburg is a heaven for a people that love to walk and the city centre are where the main monuments and tourist sights, which deserved to be looked at in a relaxed fashion and a fair bit of time is needed for most of them. The ultimate and most popular attraction in the city is the Winter Palace and Hermitage Museum, which houses over 3,000,000 pieces of artwork that was produced by some of the most famous people in history and to name a few include Rubens, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Leonardo, Rembrandt and many others. Paying for a tour guide is well worth it due to the lack of descriptive English writing and there is also a shop and café in the complex.

For people wanting to see more traditional Russian paintings and sculptures, then your best bet is to explore the Russian Museum, which is housed in the magnificent Mikhailovskiy Palace. Other famous and must-see religious buildings are the Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, which can be visited day or night and offers splendid vista of the city. Another is the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood, which is a traditional Russian church and is spectacularly designed with thousands of mosaics and striking cupolas that overlook the Neva River.

The river has plenty of walking trails to experience and is one of the most scenic ways of seeing the city centre and there are various boats and cruises that set off all along the river and will take you on a guided tour or you can just hire a boat yourself. The raising of the bridges over the river is quite something with every bridge having its own set time to be raised, which can draw huge crowds especially at night time. The Ethnographic Museum is one of the most informative places with displays on traditions and costumes of many ethnic groups that have ever lived in Russia.

For people that are interested in war the Museum of Artillery has a massive array of weaponry that has been collected since records began to the present and include all sorts of guns, tanks, missiles, trucks and much more.

No trip is to the city is complete without seeing an opera or ballet, so try and get to see one of the shows at the Mariinsky or Mikhailovskiy theatres. There are many markets in the city centre that sell various products from shoes to traditional souvenirs like puppets but if you are looking for a shopping centre then head to the Gostiny Dvor, which has everything from the latest gadgets to the newest type of Vodka. The city centre teems with restaurants, hotels, pubs and clubs, where you will definitely find something that suits you.

Other areas to stay in Saint Petersburg

Petrogradsky

This district is actually an island and the main attraction here is the Peter and Paul Fortress, which is a church and exhibition hall where the founder of the city, Peter the Great, is buried along with other historic significant personnel.

There is also the zoo, botanical gardens, various parks, theatres and good shopping to do. On the island you will also find some of the most expensive luxury accommodation that have some of the best views of the city centre but there are also many other cheaper options too. The only thing about the district is the lack of supermarkets but instead there is a great choice of restaurants to pick from and the best are along the waterfront.

Vasileostrovsky

This is another island in the city and is home to some impressive tourist sites with the most impressive religious buildings being the Andreyevsky Cathedral that has stunning cupolas and interior design with marvellous mosaics all around. Other things to see include the Erata Museum and Gallery of Contemporary Art, which is home to over 3,000 works of art from Russian and European artists.

There are a number of statues on the island that are dedicated to famous people of the city like the Mikhail Lomonosov statue, who contributed to a wide range of subjects like science, maths and painting. There are also parks, theatres and gardens to explore and generally the island is a little cheaper than most other districts with many more budget hostels.